//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: The Colours of the Rainbow // by DawnFade //------------------------------// Dash woke up to heaven every day. When the morning light breached the horizon, it played across her cloudhome before anything else. The fluffy yet solid material seemed to absorb the sunlight, glowing and shining almost unbearably bright. Every morning Dash would walk tiredly through the halls of white and marvel in their splendour. Then she would eat breakfast in their splendour. Then laze around in their splendour. And slowly, as the day progressed, they lost their splendour. It seemed even something as beautiful as a cloud imbued with the rays of the sun couldn't stand up to the test of time and routine, that no matter how new and amazing something is when first discovered it quickly becomes just another part of existence. The thought was simultaneously disheartening and emboldening, an oxymoron of emotion that left her head aching. For that reason, she decided to stay at home. Considering her house is made entirely out of the most comfortable substance in existence, she wondered how she ever managed to leave the bed. Of course that question answered itself with every breath of wind that wafted through her windows. The sky always called to her eventually, no matter how lazy she was determined on being. But not that day. Dash was finally going to take a break from all the thinking and worrying that had occupied her life in recent days. Unfortunately, Twilight had other ideas. The interruption occurred at almost midday as Dash prepared for the first of many naps. The familiar tones of the bookish unicorn floated into the cloudhome and Dash couldn't ignore it. With a sigh, she heaved herself out to look down from her house. "Rainbow Dash!" Twilight called. "Yeah, yeah, I can hear ya. What do you want?" The purple pony looked exasperated. "Can you come down? I can't shout this!" With dread behind her eyes, Dash dove from the cloud and enjoyed the brief second of freefall before opening her wings. Flapping twice, she landed softly beside Twilight, who greeted her with a smile. "Hi Dash!" "...Hey." The pegasus accepted the awkward silence that followed, having experienced a fair few of them now. "So. Um. Oh yeah! I came here to check up on you. Er, because you weren't feeling well a few days ago." She paused, then quickly added, "As far as I know." Dash sighed. "I know you're the one who saw me crying in the alley that day. Pinkie told me." Twilight winced before replying. "Sorry about that. I wanted to talk to you but, well, you didn't seem to want to share your problem with me." Don't think, just do it. "Oh, what the hay. Everypony else knows, you'll find out sooner or later. I like mares." Dash felt proud of how she said it, like it was old news barely worth mentioning. That, and her voice didn't crack once. The unicorn cocked her head to one side. "Well of course you do. So do I," she said with a confused undertone. "Fluttershy will be pleased to hear that." Dash cracked a grin. Twilight just looked more confused. "I'm not following." "Oh. Wait." The rainbow-maned flier remembered a very important aspect of Twilight's personality: complete lack of understanding of most social situations. Sure, it was endearing, but it was confusing the issue. "Alright Twilight, let me break this down so even an egghead like you can understand. I like mares. I really, really like them. As in, I wanna do stuff with them . . . and stuff. Romance stuff." The words made her cheeks burn but they were necessary. The look of realization was priceless as Twilight let out a long 'Ohhh' and her face flushed. "I see what you mean now. So that's what you've been stressing about! Just a simple sexual orientation realizat-" "Simple?! I don't think so!" Twilight winced again. "Sorry, poor choice of words. I know it must have been tough for you. What I meant is I'm glad it's this and not a terminal disease or something." "What's a terminal disease?" asked the flying pony. "I have no idea," replied the magical unicorn. "But anyway, this presents an opportunity to study something I don't normally have access to." "Me?" Dash suddenly wished she had stayed up in her house. "Not you specifically, the idea that you represent." Twilight leaned closer and lowered her voice to an intense, scientifically focused whisper. "Lesbianism." Dash took a step back. "Is that what it's called now? I might have to pass on the whole 'study me' thing." Ignoring her, Twilight began to circle around, looking at her from every angle. "Hmm. Appears to be no discernable difference between the physical forms of ponies with different orientations. Further study is needed. Rainbow, what do you eat?" "Food? Like, hayfries and stuff?" "Fascinating. I must return to the library and draw up an experiment. On an unrelated note, are you busy next weekend?" Twilight stopped walking and stood in front of Dash once more. "I am now," the pegasus replied. "Oh well. By the way, what did you mean when you said 'Fluttershy will be pleased'?" Letting out a hacking cough, Dash extended her wings. "Oh no, this fresh air does a number on my lungs. I might go lie down for a bit." Her bookish friend bought the lie easily. "Hope you feel better soon! I'll see you tomorrow at the party!" Dash waved and flew the short distance back up to her home. Despite the rather intrusive nature of the conversation, Dash was left feeling good about how it went. If she had a choice between being treated as a science experiment or being ostracised she would take the first option every time. When she thought about it, she should have expected exactly that reaction from Twilight. The egghead would have read all about fillyfoolers at some point, that was certain. With a yawn, Dash decided to make up for lost time and curled up on her cloud. ------ With her nap over and no further distractions, Dash became restless. Spending the day napping had seemed like a perfect idea when she was tired and in bed, but now she was rested and full of energy with nothing to expend it on. There were no clouds in the sky and not a single storm due until the next week. She laid on the cloud irritably. What she could really use was somepony to . . . fool around with. All this energy might as well be put to good use, right? As they often did, her thoughts drifted to Applejack. The earth pony was probably out in her fields this time of day working up a sweat and pulling carts of apples around with her hooves plastered in dirt. She would wipe the perspiration from her forehead with one hoof and sigh, a healthy flush on her cheeks and neck. She might even stand still for a moment and close her eyes, letting the breeze flow over her wet fur. Her mane would be untied, of course, and it would sway gently in the updraft. A single trickle of sweat would roll ever so slowly down her flank . . . Rainbow Dash rolled over and groaned in frustration. This is just ridiculous. I should just go talk to her or something. But was it too soon after their chat? Maybe later, sugarcube. Applejack's voice had been repeating that line far too often for it to be good for her. When was 'later'? Did she mean come by the farm later that day? Dash started breathing faster. She missed it! Now Applejack probably thought she was an awful pony to lead her on like that. There was only one course of action. Her wings were already extended for some reason as she stood up, so without a second thought she leapt into the sky. It was a short flight, but then when you're the greatest flier in Equestria everything is. The field of green speckled with a million tiny red dots was as familiar as Ponyville itself. Dash had once tried to nap in every single tree for fun. She made it to about the fifteenth tree before boredom destroyed that plan. The big Apple family homestead looked as welcoming as ever as Dash swooped towards it. One particular red dot became a lot bigger upon closer inspection, taking the shape of Big Macintosh. One magnificent landing later brought her face to face with the huge workpony. He didn't bat an eyelid as she blurted out her story. "HeyhaveyouseenApplejackIthinkImighthaveoffendedherorsomethingbecauseshemighthavetoldmetomeethertheotherday!" Big Macintosh replied infuriatingly slowly. "Eeyup." "WhereissheIreallyneedtoseeherurgently!" He inclined his head towards the big red barn not too far from the house. Dash sucked in a lungful of air. "Sorry about that. Thanks for the help!" Without waiting for a response, she trotted towards the open barn door. Curses were flying thick and fast from inside, their source revealed to be Applejack rolling a very heavy-looking barrel. The orange pony didn't seem to notice Dash entering the barn. "Mah turn to do chores, he says! It's always mah darn turn!" she muttered, moving the barrel another inch toward where the others were stacked. "Hey Applejack..." The pegasus made her presence known. Applejack didn't turn around, still shoving the barrel with her shoulder. "Howdy RD! Ahm a mite busy at the moment, so you'll excuse mah poor manners." Poor manners? Was that a jab at her for missing the . . . whatever it was supposed to be? "Need a hoof?" she asked helpfully, hoping it might count towards an apology. A strained grunt was her only reply, so Dash stepped up next to Applejack and pushed against it with all her might. It rolled forward suddenly as if it were full of air. Dash wasn't expecting it, making her fall forward and smack her face on the hay-littered dirt floor. Applejack was rolling on the floor laughing. "You were right, pranking ponies is fun!" The polychromatic pony rose unsteadily to her feet. "The barrel is empty, isn't it?" "Yup! Ah saw you coming our way and ducked in here," the earth pony climbed to her feet as well, still chuckling. Dash had to admit, it was a pretty good trick. "So what brings ya here, Rainbow?" "Oh yeah. Er, you remember what you said to me yesterday after I started getting all . . . touchy-feely? Well, um, yeah..." she trailed off, not sure how to vocalise her worries. Applejack seemed to interpret her words a different way, her eyes widening. "Now, Rainbow, y'all haven't come to me today with the chastest thoughts in mind, have you?" She smirked at Dash's reaction. "I-No! I was only trying to – no, this is totally not what you – I would be way more subtle – not like that," the pegasus spluttered. "Calm down RD, just tell me why you're here." Applejack put her hoof on Dash's shoulder, which surprisingly helped. "The thing you said . . . I wasn't sure if you meant later that day, so I got worried I had let you down by not showing up." The orange pony sighed. "Ah was teasing ya, sugarcube. Ah didn't really expect that you'd want to take me up on mah offer." "Are you kidding? It's all I can think about!" Dash blurted. "Oh is it now?" Applejack said slyly as the pegasus reddened. "Ah know you said you were bottled up, but ah didn't know it was this badly." "That . . . That came out wrong." That came out exactly how I meant it because I'm an idiot. The Element of Honesty stepped closer, putting her other hoof around Dash's neck. "Ya can tell me to stop any time you want." Dash remained silent. ----------------------- WOW DID THAT JUST HAPPEN? SECOND LAST CHAPTER!